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Jim Croce
1973-08-25
Philadelphia Folk Festival
Schwenksville, PA
Soundboard Recording
320 kbps
Artwork Included
01. Introduction
02. Rapid Roy (The Stock Car Boy)
03. Workin' At The Car Wash Blues - story
04. Workin' At The Car Wash Blues
05. Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)
06. He's Got A Way With Women - story
07. He's Got A Way With Women
08. Band Introductions
09. Lovers Cross
10. Speedball Tucker - story
11. Speedball Tucker
12. The Ball of Kerrymuir - story
13. The Ball Of Kerrymuir (ending cut)
14. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (partial)
On July 21, 1973, Jim Croce’s biggest hit, Bad Bad Leroy Brown, went to number 1 on the Billboard charts. When asked what had inspired him to write the song, Croce explained it was based on a guy he had met in the army. He was a tough guy who never had anyone tell him what to do. Croce’s army buddy went AWOL, but incredibly came back at the end of the month to try to collect his pay check. The military police put him in handcuffs and locked him away, putting an end to another tough guy, much the way Bad Bad Leroy Brown gets his comeuppance in the song. This soundboard recording captures Croce at Philadelphia Folk Festival on August 25, 1973, 40 years ago today, just around the time Bad Bad Leroy Brown had topped the charts. Download this one to hear Croce live just 2 months before his tragic death.
17 comments:
Must admit I've not heard of this guy, but willing to give this a spin. Love the site. Love Zippy share its so handy as well.
Enjoy JIm Croce. Check out th eother Jim Croce posts on this site as well.
Thanks for this. Listening to a Jim Croce show always makes me feel good. He had such a friendly, good-natured way about him (even if he did tend to repeat the same stories at times!).
-Scott
Really appreciate this post Speedy, Man how can Jim and Maury have been gone for over 41 years, remember Jim performing on the Helen Ready {REMEMBER HER} summer replacement show just two months prior to the awful event, Remember how huge that Jim was becoming at that time, believe that he had several songs in the top ten that summer alone..Bad Bad Leroy Brown was on top of the charts. Operator is probably my personal favorite, Amazing the way that he could have you laughing and claping to one of his faster fun loving storyteller songs and in a flash he would have you in tears with his beautiful ballads as only he could do. A true musical genius and from all accounts a wonderful person as well. I feel so cheated to have lost him when the best was yet to come. Listen to his albums today over 40 years later and they sound as fresh and timeless as ever. So sad that some people have never heard of him. It is true life isn't fair sometimes but at least some of us will always have our memories. Thanks Jim you will always be remembered , Maury also
We lost Jim way too soon. I was a big fan of the tune I Got A Name. One of those songs that touched you on a personal level, which was one of his best qualities.
You are so right Speedy, Jim was an everyman no overblown ego like todays talentless divas and prima donnas , He was like the buddy that you could go have a beer with. Listen to his shows and he was just one of the guys, know that he struggled for years to gain the acclaim that he finally found and then just like that he was gone.Love I got a name also, think the first time i heard it was the week that he died, remember the radio stations playing that as well as time in a bottle in the weeks after he died.think both songs made the top ten that fall believe they were both in the top 10 at the same time also which proved how much Jim was loved by the fans and how popular he was becoming Have to say i love you in a song also enterd the top 10 soon after that. Jim really touched a chord in people and was trully loved by his fans.Oh by the way Speedy a little trivia for you , Do you remember what you were doing earlier that night on Sept 20 1973 the night Jim died, If you were like me you had probably just finished watching The battle of the sexes between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, remember how huge that event was. When it was over i wnt to sleep for a few hours woke up around 3 in the morning turned on the tv and Jims death was all over the news.Didnt know if you knew that those two events were on the same date in history, Amazing how a person can remember what was going on in their life when these tragic events occur. Remember Elvis and John Lennon as well and what i was doing at the time
Wow - that's some piece o trivia! I do remember watching the Battle of The Sexes tennis match but didn't remember it was teh same date Jim dies.
yup same date, ten days earlier sept 10th 73 muhammad ali won a split decision over ken norton at the la forum avenging his broken jaw loss to norton 6 months earlier in march, also the great secretariat won his last two races in sept and oct of 73 before being retired ucla with bill walton faced off with nc state led by david thompson in a netural site in the fall of 73 as well in one the most antisapated college games of all time the bruins won by 18 that day only to lose in double overtime to the wolfpack in the ncaa semifinals several months later. ucla had leads of 11 points in the first overtime an 7 points in the 2nd and blew both leads ended up losing the game by three snapping their streak of 7 national titles in a row under coach john wooden, wooden would win it all again the following year with a much less talented team making it ten titles in 12 years something you will never see again,he then retired on top a fitting end. yes 1973 was a truly memorable year both in music and sports
some more trivia, the thing a lot of us forget is that jim was doing his final show as a make up, he was scheduled earlier in the yearcand had to cancel so he came back because he promised them a show, another testament to the type of person that he was. The thing that really bothers me is that the accident was caused by a pecan tree at the end of the runway. the idiots / JERKS that ran the airport thought the damn trees were more important than human life Now of course the trees are gone but 2 incredible talents left way to soon and we as true fans and music lovers are deprived of all the years that they could have given us
also very few people attended the final show as most people were home watching the tennis match which for people who are too young or wernt around to remember was so huge at the time it was unreal This was before cable so you had just 3 networks,and Howard Cosell calling the match, it was actually as an event as big or bigger than the first ali frazier fight in the garden 2 and 1/2 years earlier. the fact that Jims death wasnt even the biggest story in the news the next day makes it even sadder.today his face would have been on the cover of people as well as other magizines
With all the memories of Jim coming backand what he meant to so many of us reminds me of another great but less famous artist who passed a year after Jim, His name was Nick Drake.His music was beautiful and haunting and like Jim was a master with the accoustic guitar. Ashamed to say that i only recently discovered him.thanks to my kid of all people. His fate was even sadder than Jims as he constantly battled depression and feelings of self worth. He commited sucide at 27 in 74 by taking a bottle of sleeping pills. His stature and legend has grown in the 40 plus years since his death, never achieved the mainstream success that Jim did but he was a brilliant artist. Speedy, ever here of him?
Sorry - not really familar with Nick Drake but I'm sure other readers are and bet they'll add their comments,
Five Leaves Left. Bryter Later and Pink Moon were Nicks three albums that he recorded before his death, all are considered masterpieces and are all in Rolling Stones 500 greatest albums of all time list. Dont think he performed much live though as his shyness and self esteem issues made him a recluse. His depression got worse as the years went on resulting in his suicide in 1974. . Sad tale indeed Like Jim we'll never know what could have been, A tortured soul. Why do so many great artists like these leave us so soon
Thanks Speedy, great post, Love Croce, from a time that there was no auto tune and lipsynking on stage ,when you actually had to have talent to make it in music. Want to cry everytime i hear his beautiful songs or go to youtube to watch his performances. Such a talent with a rare gift of communicating with an audience. Maurey Mulhueisen also a great musicion classicy trained added so much himself to Jims songs Speedy,something to really make you tear up, check out the youtube video of time in a bottle, it shows jim and his wife outdoors having fun playing with a young todler about two years old.It is Jims son AJ very sad now knowing he would be gone in months, first song i heard the day after his death was i got a name, the radio stations played it nonstop so like you that song in paticular has a special place in my heart. lyrics are eerie especially in light of what happened
Lets not forget about Maury Muelhuesen , a tremondous talent in his own right. Seems like he is a forgotten man sometimes when remembering the tragedy , He was actually performing music when producer Tommy West introduced him to Jim at a party. Jim who at the time was out of the music business business doing those many odd jobs that he sang so elocquently about and Maury hit it off immediatly and the rest is history. Maury realized that Jims talent was such that he needed to be in the spotlight and he unselfishly took the role of supporting player. Other musicians with bigger egos may not have been as generous , so thank you Maury , you are appreciated and missed as well. More posts please, canT ever get enough J C Thanks so much
Yeah,actually Jim started off backing up Maury,who was slightly more established at the time . Maury recognized Jims tremendous talent and realized that the roles should be reversed and that Jimwas the better frontman with the more outgoing personality and stage presence .Maury who was very softspoken and quiet fit perfectly in the role of sideman, Read where Jim was very tired of the constant touring and was strongly considering leaving the music business after this tour so he could spend more time with his wife and young son. in which case we may have not had him around anyway. but many music artists have quit and returned so hopefully he would have reconsidered ,unfortunatly we'll never know, Believe Elton John has announced many times over the years that this is it and hes still here performing
Without Maury , there may not have been a jim Croce as we knew him, his beautiful lead guitar, gorgeous harmonies in his high vocal register a perfect compliment to Jim's barritone. As stated earlier his total unselfishness in pushing Jim to the forefront was very important to Jims career . Go to youtube to hear Maury sing songs from his one and only solo album Gingerbread from 1970. Another sad irony to the tragedy is that Maury was going to start working on a solo album. Listen to his songs on youtube . quite frankly i didnt know what to expect as i only knew him as that guy on stage with Jim. His songs are absolutly beautiful beyond belief, A tremendous talent in his own right. I firmly believe that had he lived he would have been a major star in his own right on the level of a James Taylor or a Jackson Browne. We lost two great ones that night. The album is called Gingerbread. Speedy i have searched but can't find it anywhere. Any suggestions, It is truly a hidden treasure,buy a tremondous artist. Maury was only 24 years old, . How unfair is that. thanks great blog , you are the best
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